Grain-grader.



G. H. RICH.

GRAIN GRADER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20,1914.

1 ,1 20,083. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

25 2AA j GEORGE H. RICH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN-GRADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Application filed July 20, 1914- .Serial No. 851,849.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE H. RICH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Graders, of which the following is declared to be a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to grain graders of that type embodying a cylinder constructed of a number of rings secured together and having openings or spaces therebetween through which the material escapes and the principal object of the invention is to increase thecapacity of such graders; to improve the construction of the individual rings so as to increase their strength and rigidity and yet to leave the spaces therebetween free and unobstructed so that the grain and other foreign matter may not clog around the supports for the rings.

Another object is to provide improved independent, external means for clearing the holes or openings from'grainor other matter which may have lodged therein.

. Another object .is to provide a graingrader capable of use in separating and cleaning wheat, oats, barley, corn and many other grains.

To such ends this invention consists in the several novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully .described in the. following specification and more particularly define in the claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the drawing furnished herewith, in which Figure 1 is .a View of a grain grader embodying the preferred form of the invention, and showing the frame work and discharge hoppers in longitudinal section and the cylinder and other parts in side elevation; Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line 2-42. of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail face view of a fragment of one of the grading rings; Fig. 4 is a detail longitudinal section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2, of fragments of a number of grading rings; Fig. 5 is a face view of the inner side of said rings looking in the direction of arrow 5, in Fig. 2 and showing two of the ears of said rings in section; Fig. 6 is a detail vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2, showing a number of the grading rings, and Fig. 7 is a plan of a for seed corn,

fragment of the cylinder and certain external means for clearing certain holes or openings of the cylinder.

Referring to said drawing, A designates a main frame, comprising vertical, hori- Zontal and transverse framemembers 10, secured together so as to provide a strong and substantial frame work. Journaled in boxes 11, mounted on saidframe work is a shaft 12, which may be driven by any suitable means, and supported by said shaft is the grading cylinder B, of the machine.

Said shaft and ,cylinder extend in an inclined direction in accordance with the usual practice and at the upper end thereof is a chute 14-, for delivering the grain into the cylinder, and below the cylinder are hoppers 15, into which the graded grain is discharged in the operation of the grader.

The grading cylinder is constructed of a number of rings 16, 17, the rings being arranged in groups with the rings 17 close together; the rings of the other groups farther down the cylinder are spaced farther apart than the ones above, in accordance with the usual practice, so that the finer material and screenings may be separated from the grain at the upper end of the cylinder, the good wheat, oats and barley from the second group, small round corn and barley from wheat, oats and barley from the third group, poor thin corn from the fourth group, good seed corn from the fifth group,

and tai lugs 01 large round kernels, not fit at the lower end of the cylinder. Each hopper 15 is arranged to receive the dischar ed material from the group of rin s imme iately above it.

ach ring is formed with a plurality of hubs l8, spaced away from the inner edge of the ring and connected thereto by ears 19, 20. Each ear 19 extends directl back from the hub to the ring on one si e of a radial line passing through the hub, whereas the car 20 extends approximately parallel with the rim for a short distance and joins thering on he other side of said radial line, as clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. Preferably the arrangement of the cars is such that their points of juncture with the ring are equidistant from each other, whereby the ring may have twice as-many su porting ears as there are hubs,,thereby sti cning the rings and preventing lateral springing thereof. In building upa cylinder comcontacting with the 01 the rotary brush is ournaied secured the 1 k of posed of grading rings constructed as hereinabove described, the rings are so placed that the ears of the alternate rings extend in one direction, and the ears of the inter-' mediate rings inthe reverse directions, as clearly seen in Fig. .2, whereby-there are wide spaces between all of the ears 19, 20, so that the grain may flow freely between said ears and escape between the rings without. the danger of clogging around the ears. Rods 21 extend through the holes in the'hubs'18,anol have nuts upon the rings together to make a complete cylinder. lhe end rings are provided with spokes 22, (see Fig. 2) which. run to the shaft 12 and are secured thereon, in accordance with the usual practice in grain graders of this t e. 1 'lhe rings 16 have smooth sides and are spaced apart by the hubs 18 to provide the discharge opening therebetween. The rings 17, however, are provided with tapering round notches 23, the notches being preferably formed on one side only of each ring, the other side being smooth, whereby when two rings are placed together with the notches opposite each other, round, tapering discharge openings are formed between. the two rings, through which openings material may escape. 'lhese openings are preferably made tapering, as seen in Fig. 6, in order that the grain may fall endwise thereinto, so as to escape more readily, it being understood that the holes are made of such size so as to permit the escape only of smaller grains, the larger ones tumbling down the inner side of the cylinder to the wider openings between the lower rings.

Improved means are provided for clearing the openings, and a simple means comprises a stationary brush 2%, supported from the frame of the machine, with its bristles surface of the cylinder. This brush operates to brush back into the cylinder any kernels that may have lodged in the openings and project in the direction of travel of the cylinder. Adjacent to the stationary brush 2% is a rotary brush 25, whose bristles contact with the surface of the cylinder, and driving means are provided to rotate said brush in a direction the direction of rotation of the so as to brush back-into the cylinder any kernels that may have lodged in the openings and project out in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the cylinder. it simple means for rotating the brush comprise a belt pulley 26, on the shaft 19 a smaller b pulley 27!, on the shaft 28, of the rota V :vTllSh 25, and a belt 2%? trained around s d pulley. shaft opposite cylinder,

through the openings theirends for securely holding marines grain or other matter which may. have lodged in the openings and protrudes in oblique directions, transverse of the rings, I employ a plurality of clearing devices here shown as comprising wires 30, secured to the frame of the machine and having adjustment bolts 31, whereby said wires may be held taut against the cylinder. Said wires extend between the annular rows of holes 23 and have lateralprojections 32, 33, here shown as formed by kinking the wires, said projections extending partly over holes 23, and acting to push back into the holes any grain or other material protruding therefrom in lines oblique with respect to the rings. I

The operation of a grain graderof this type requires no special explanation so far as this-specification is concerned, and is well known to .those skilled in the art. One of the principal advantages of employing two ears between each hub and ring is that the lateral stiffness of the rings is increased and cylinder secured upon a shaft and its surface first turned down. The sides of the rings are then finished by revolving the cylinder and inserting a cutting tool between the adjacent rings. This is for the purpose of making the openings between the rings of each group of equal width and it has been found heretofore that when only one ear is used between each hub and ring that the rings are apt to bend under the influence of the cutting tool at points between the ears, resulting in uneven spaces between the rings. lit is not practical to double the number of rods or to materially increase their number, but I have found that by using two ears for each hub, as shown, that the rigidity of the rings is increased without any danger of clogging the cylinder.

More or less variation is possible without departing from the spirit of this invention, and l desire, therefore, not to limit myself to the exact form of construction shown and described, but intend in the following claims to point out all of the invention dis-' closed herein.

1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. ln a graingrader, a gradingrcylinder comprising a plurality of rings having openings therebetween, each ring having a plurality of inwardly extending short ears and long ears, and a .hub secured thereto,

all of the points of junctureof said ears' with the ring being approximately equidistant from each other, the ears of the alternate rings extending in one direction along ears, and rods extending through said hubs, and having means on their ends for drawing the hubs together.

2. In a grain grader, a grading cylinder, comprising a plurality of rin s placed side by side, and means for hol ing them together, each ring having a plurality of circumferentially arranged notches in one side tapering from the inner side to the outer side of the ring, the notches of the adjacent rings opposing each other to leave tapering discharge openings therebetween.

3. In a grain grader, a grading cylinder comprising a pluralit of rings placed side by side and means or securing them together, each ring having on one side onl a plurality of half-round notches, tapering from the inner side of the ring toward its outer side, the rings being placed with the notches opposing each other to form tapering round discharge openings, and the flat sides of the rings being in contact with each other.

4. In a grain cylinder, the combination with a grain gradin cylinder having rows of openings in its cy indrical wall, of clearing means extending transversely of and contacting with the outer face of the cylinder between the rows of openings, and having oblique projections on both sides thereof extendin partly over the path of rotation of two a jacent rows of openings.

5. In a grain grader, a grading'cylinder comprising a plurality of sections secured together to form the cylinder and having discharge openings therein tapering from the inner to the outer side of the cylinder, for the purpose set forth.

GEORGE H. RICH.

Witnesses:

CHARLES O. SHERVEY, Ross HUNTLEY. 

